Stuff Of Legend

Chapter 3

       It's strange how without even meaning to, Piper Scott escapes from jail. The guards who knew of her weren't so keen on just letting her walk away, but Christina and Don were able to persuade them to change their minds. Not like they had a choice that is.

Piper changed into the clothes that she wore when came in. Don asked her where she kept her other personal belongings in the city, and when she told him that they were in a bus under the bridge, the look on his face was combined with the look of disgust and the look of not being too surprised by her answer. They were quick about their departure, so much so that Piper wasn't able to see Moon before she left. Piper figured that she would just send Moon a letter later.

The ATLAS members drove a nice and sleek black car with tinted windows. If they weren't who they said they were, then this looked like the car leading Piper to her death. Well, it being ATLAS, she may be on her way there anyways. They drove through the city, Don driving, Christina in the passenger seat and Piper in the back. Christina was doing something on her phone and Don's eyes never left the road. This is what seems like the first time Piper and him were in the same space as each other and he wasn't watching her every move. Piper awkwardly stared out the window, not sure what to make of the whole situation.

For seventeen years, she has been searching for answers, and now she's going to get some. But now that she is, she's not sure how to feel. When you don't know who you are, you can make up stories to comfort yourself. When Piper was younger, she figured that her father was a wealthy man and someone murdered him for his money. It's not uncommon in this economy so it was possible. She imagined her mother to be a beautiful woman, famous for something. Maybe she was a singer, or a politician. She was also probably murdered for her wealth. She hoped that her parents had made plans for Piper to grow up nice, but in the process, things didn't work out. But as she grew up, she realized that the world isn't as nice as she perceived. Piper eventually came to the conclusion that her parents had a one-night stand and her father didn't even know that she existed. She figured that he was most likely in prison for shanking somebody who he got in a bar fight with and her mother probably died from some sort of drug overdose.

But not in a million years did Piper ever consider that her parents were ATLAS officers. Or even deviants for that matter. Deviants are the minority of the world's population so for the chance that Piper be one of them seemed next to nothing. But ATLAS officer? Deviants and ATLAS officers are the same people, but ATLAS officers are deviants who have devoted themselves to use their abilities to better the world. Like most plans though, they get clouded and warped along the way.

Passing over the bridge is weird. Piper looked out the window and down at the people that were milling in and out of the area below. She used to be down there, and now she's above them. Above them by chance. It shouldn't have bothered Piper, but this whole event felt strange to her.

Soon they were driving up the road along the mountain. They were covered by trees and so much nature, more nature than Piper has ever seen. She kept trying to sneak a peek at the ATLAS building. She heard rumors about what they look like, but the only one's she has seen had all been different. In Georgia, the ATLAS building was in the heart of Atlanta and stood amongst the skyscrapers. But in South Carolina, she found a building that was much smaller to scale and along the beach, looking like the beach houses around it. Piper didn't know what one in the mountains would look like.

Eventually, they came to a stop when they approached a tall, silver gate. There were two tall watch towers on each side of the gate and then stretching from each tower was a smaller brick wall. Piper couldn't tell where the walls went, but she figured that they wrapped around the entire base. A tall man stepped out from the watchtower on the left and came up to the car. Don took out his wallet and rolled down the window as the man approached.